Governments around the world are increasingly relying on open licenses
to release public sector information (PSI). A September 2011 report
titled Costs and Benefits of Data Provision,
prepared by John Houghton for the Australian National Data Service,
examines the immediate and wider economic costs and benefits to making
PSI available.

The key takeaway from the study: â€œthe direct and measurable
benefits of making PSI available free and unrestrictedly typically
outweigh the costs. When one adds the longer-term benefits that we
cannot fully measure, cannot even foresee, the case for open access
appears to be strong.â€